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Opportunity knocks again for Maple Leafs — maybe this will be their year

At the end of any long hockey playoff series every losing team asks itself, what was the difference? Was it a goaltender? Was it the kind of skill you can’t teach, but you can sharpen until it can cut through anything? Was it a bounce? You need everything to win a Stanley Cup, in the end. You need it all.

As the Toronto Maple Leafs open their latest season in what they hope is a golden age, their actual accomplishments are thin. Three first-round losses, each a little better than the last, or a lot. But zero playoff series wins either way. Toronto led the series with Boston last year 3-2 going into Game 6 at home, allowed two power-play goals in six minutes, and had 45 minutes left to recover. Instead they lost their nerve. That was this team’s best chance, and they weren’t ready for it.

“You would like in that situation to be able to respond, to stay the course,” says defenceman Morgan Rielly. “You know, just play, and go back after them. But I don’t think that’s what happened. You know, we let two in and it’s just deflating, and … there’s a better way to go about it. And you know, moving forward, being more experienced, we would hope that that will come through.”

“That’s probably what you look at when you look at the maturation of the group,” said Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas in a recent interview.

What do you think?

Barrie is second in points per minute played among defencemen over the past two seasons. In Colorado, he meshed beautifully with their most skilled players. And he has one year left on his contract on a team jammed up against the salary cap like it’s a subway door in rush hour, and while he hasn’t lit up the pre-season, there’s a solid chance Barrie will be very expensive in a year.

So now that it’s clear that the Leafs overpaid their restricted free agents relative to the league, Mitch Marner most of all, this is one hell of a chance. The Leafs have a year before they have to rebuild a defence with about $12.5 million U.S. in expiring defencemen contracts, Travis Dermott a restricted free agent, Sandin and Morgan Rielly under contract, and at least four spots to fill.

“Yeah, I think for me when I got traded I kind of knew they were bringing me in to take a run at it this year,” says Barrie. “Obviously, I know my contract situation and everything, and I think it’s exciting. They’re a team and they have a fan base that expects to win and wants to win, and I think you can see that management is trying to do that. And to be able to be a part of that process and be here for this year and who knows how long going forward — what more could you ask for than to be a Maple Leaf and take a run at a Cup?

“The skill on this team matches anyone in the league. It’ll be a fun year, I think.”

They can compete for a Cup. They should be able to skate teams off their feet some nights. Auston Matthews and William Nylander — back together, which is a load — and Marner and the other youngsters are still ascending. Goaltender Frederik Andersen is targeting maybe 60 starts, to keep him fresher for the end.

They have playoff scars. Boston and Tampa are fabulous franchises, and Florida may rise up. There are no guarantees, because it’s hockey. As Barrie says, “Look at Tampa (last year). They controlled the league. You played them and it felt like they were in a different league. And then (they lost) four straight (in the playoffs), done. It doesn’t make sense.”

But the Leafs were basically the same as Tampa at five-on-five last year, and have new special teams coaches. Get goaltending, get better years from your still-growing youngsters and whoosh.

“If we had won the first round and lost the second round I think we would have felt the same,” says Andersen. “Our key is just to try to stay with this process and try to improve what we do every day. And eventually it’s going to be something where we punch our way through.”

So this entire season will be a balancing act between winning and preparation, between hitting the gas and resting for the run. A horse race over seven months, before the real one.

And eventually they will reach the stage where they find out who they are under pressure, in the moments that define you. This group gets one year, then will change again.

“It gets more important,” says Rielly. “We know how it works: Teams go through opportunities and windows. And I think being a young group, when you look back at what happened last year, I think that’s an opportunity that we let slip.

“And you know, I think you have to realize that we have an opportunity here on this team with the amount of talent that we have, and an expectation that you’re going to win here at some point. So I don’t want to say that the clock’s ticking, but each year becomes more and more important.”

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“They know that (the hard moments are) coming. They’re not going to hide from it. It’s never going to be perfect; it’s going to come with its challenges,” says Dubas. “But I think that’s the exciting part, for me: not trying to avoid those moments in the future, but knowing that they’re coming, and how does our whole group respond when they do?

“I think the players know that they don’t want to squander anything else. And it may or may not work out that way. But every year, every day’s a good opportunity, and now for this group, because of its talent level, every year’s a huge opportunity for them.

“And I think that instead of a focus on the end, look at today. Look at the talent that we have. What can we do to make it better, treat them better, care about them? And make sure that at the end of this run — in three or 10 or 20 years, however long it goes — that we haven’t squandered any opportunity. You’re not going to win every year, it’s not possible. Just that we haven’t squandered anything along the way. That’s really what we’re doing here, day in and day out.”

Everyone with this franchise saw what happened with the Raptors, who broke through after years of failure, and what it unleashed. The Leafs haven’t accomplished anything, not really. If they’re lucky and ready, maybe they will.

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